MAKE YOUR WIN98 COMPUTER A "POWERFUL PC"!
As you Win98 users know, you can set the "Typical Role of your PC" in the Control Panels System applet. The usual tweak is to set it to "Network Server" for increased file-system performance. However you can add one more choice: "Powerful PC" which will give your file-system an even further boost. "Powerful PC" sets VFAT (the Virtual File Allocation Table in RAM) so that it will remember about twice as many files and folders as the "Network Server" setting. Sound like something you'd like to try? Well then, back up you Registry and read on:

• Close all running programs.
• Highlight the text below and press Ctrl+C to copy it.
  
  REGEDIT4
  
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Powerful]
  @="Powerful PC"
  "NameCache"=hex:a0,0f,00,00
  "PathCache"=hex:80,00,00,00
  
  
• Launch Notepad or your favorite plain text editor and paste it into a new file called PowerPC.reg. Make sure everything one the line that starts with "[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE....\Powerful]" is on one line. Also make sure that there are no blank trailing spaces, and that there is one carriage return after the last character in the text you paste.
• Close your text editor and find your new REG file. Right click the file and select Merge from the context menu.
• Reboot and then go to the Control Panel. Launch the System applet, click the Performance tab and then click the File System... button.
• Note the small window with the drop down menu. By default it will be set as Desktop Computer. As stated above, normally you will have two other options: Mobile or docking system and Network server.
• You should now have a third alternative called Powerful PC. If you check this option you may see a significant performance increase under certain circumstances. If you don't like the results simply change back to Desktop computer or whatever your previous setting was. Each time you make a change you'll be prompted to reboot. Do so.
• For those of you that may be interested, here's an explanation of what this REG file does:
  
  "NameCache"=hex:a0,0f,00,00
  
  The a0,0f,00,00 means 0FA0hex (yes, it is stored backwards) or 4000 decimal. VFAT allocates memory to record the last 4000 files accessed.
  
  "PathCache"=hex:80,00,00,00
  
  The 80,00,00,00 means 0080hex or 128 decimal. VFAT allocates memory to record the last 128 folders accessed. This setting will use about 80K of memory.
  
  The Network Server setting will record the last 2729 files, and 64 folders, and will use about 40K. (0AA9 hex - A9,0A,00,00 in the registry, and 0040 hex - 40,00,00,00 in the registry)
• Enjoy!

LAUNCH YOUR WINDOWS PROGRAMS WITH A TYPED COMMAND!
Are you keyboard-centric? Would you prefer to quickly hit WinKey+R and type in one or two letters to launch a program? This technique is particularly useful when you have a number of windows open, but you'll find yourself using it all the time for programs you want to launch quickly.

There is an example of how you can edit the Registry manually to accomplish this same task elsewhere in this section. However, Alias Builder is a script that automates the entire process in Win9x, WinNT, Win2K or WinXP. When double-clicked, an input box appears asking you for full path to the executable file for which you'd like a WinKey+R shortcut created. Next, an input box asks for the letter(s) you wish to type. For example, the user would input C:\Windows\Notepad.exe as the path to the executable file and N as the shortcut letter, or "Alias".

Now, any time the letter N is entered at the Start/Run command line, an instance of Notepad will launch. The script works by making additions to the AppPaths Registry key. You will be warned if a chosen alias is already in use so as to avoid Registry overwrites.

Get Alias Builder Here  

SPRUCE UP YOUR DOS BOX IN WIN9X!
If you habitually immerse yourself in your work such that you forget that you are in a maximized DOS box in Windows rather than in pure DOS, then you might find this of interest. Of course, the problem with forgetting that you're in a maximized DOS box is that you may reach over and simply hit the kill switch to shut down the computer -- as you would in pure DOS. Unfortunately this is rather hard on Windows. (To see what I mean, launch a DOS box within Windows and while at the command prompt press ALT+Enter. This will maximize the DOS window. Just press ALT+Enter again to minimize the window.)

A convenient way to maintain a clearly discernible difference between pure DOS and a DOS box in Windows is to add a header to the Windows session of DOS. This can be done quite easily with a quick copy and paste thanks to some great tips I've picked up from others.

• STEP ONE
  • Highlight and press CTRL+C to copy the following line:
    SET WINPMT=$e[s$e[f$e[0;316;41;1m$e[KMS-DOS Prompt - Type Exit to close, Alt+Tab to switch, Alt+Enter for Window Mode$_$e[0;40;37;1m$e[K$e[u$P$G

  • Now launch Windows Explorer and locate your Autoexec.bat file in your root directory. Set it's properties so that it is not read only.
  • Right click Autoexec.bat and choose Edit.
  • Click Edit then Word Wrap and make sure that Word Wrap is unchecked. You need to be certain all the text is on one line. The existing spaces that you see are OK, but it must be on one line.
  • Place your cursor at the bottom, after all other lines of text, and paste the line you copied by pressing Ctrl+V. Make sure there is no blank trailing space after the last character in the line, and that there is a carriage return after it.
  • Double check to make sure that all of the text is on one line.
  • Save and exit.
• STEP TWO
  • Highlight and copy the following lines:
    [COMMON]
    DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS

  • Now, while still in the root directory, locate and double-click your Config.sys file. (Make sure it is not set as "Read Only" as well.) This should launch it in Notepad for editing. If it doesn't, in the dialog box that pops up, select NOTEPAD from the list of programs and make certain that the box next to Always use this program to open this type of file is unchecked. This last part is critical, the box must not be checked.
  • Once again, make sure that Notepad is not set to Word Wrap and press Ctrl+V to paste the text in as the final lines in the file. Check to make sure that [COMMON] is on one line and DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS is immediately below, also on one line, just as it appears above.
  • Again, make sure there is no trailing blank space, and that there is a carriage return after the new entry.
  • Save and exit both files.
  • Make sure to set the file attributes back to what they were before you started you editing session.

When you reboot you'll find that a DOS box in Windows looks like this:

Enjoy!